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by iKuro
Summary: Nezumi has been gone for six years... Shion's losing it! Will they ever be reunited? Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

~Spoiler Alert~  
Picks up where the series ended.

* * *

Shion sat by his window, watching the clouds roll in. It would begin storming soon, just as the weatherman had predicted, a huge typhoon was on its way. The wind had already picked up, and the blue sky was slowly being eaten away by the grey masses.

He waited there for hours, until finally the drops began hitting his window. His snowy white hair fell in front of his eyes, and he grinned, throwing the windows open and stepping onto the balcony.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Every time it rained, he followed a similar routine, just like he had all those years ago when he was only twelve. His motives were far different, but the thrill and relief it gave him was all the same. The tension left his muscles as his lungs emptied, and he drew another breath, but this one hitched in his throat. Off in the distance, he saw a head of blue hair bobbing through the bushes.

"NEEEEEZUUUUUUMIIIIII! NEZUMI! NEZUUUU!"

The blue hair turned towards him, and Shion's face dropped. As odd as blue hair may be, this boy was not Nezumi. The figure, he realized, was far too short. Still, the child quickly jogged towards the window. The resemblance between this boy and Nezumi was impeccable. The boy climbed up to the window, dripping wet, with blood dripping from his hand. Shion jumped away in utter shock.

"N-Nezumi? Is that…"

The boy gazed at Shion with liquidy silver eyes, then dropped to the floor, screaming in pain. Blue faded to white, and skin dehydrated and wrinkled, but no parasite dug its way out of his neck. Rather, he continued aging and then decomposing until he turned to dust, blowing away with the typhoon. Shion clutched his head and screeched, falling to his knees and breaking down into body-wracking sobs. Lately, Shion found himself questioning his sanity, and now, he confirmed, it was most certainly slipping away.

He had not seen Nezumi in six years. After kissing goodbye on the hill, Shion retreated to what was once No. 6 to find his mother. He assumed that what he had seen was real and that Safu was, in fact, dead now. No sense looking for a dead girl.

Immediately after finding Karan and letting her know that he was safe, the white-haired boy had immediately returned to the West Block and checked inside their home, but nothing was to be found but a note.

_'Don't look for me, Shion. I'll come back when I can. Right now I need to be alone.'_

Shion crumpled the note and yelled in frustration, tossing a copy of Hamlet across the room. The tiny robot that kept its namesake squealed on his shoulder. Shion carefully picked the book back up with an apologizing glance at the mouse. He stuffed a few of his friend's favorite books into his bag and retreated once again into No. 6.

Since that time, hallucinations had slowly begun invading his mind. At first there were just nightmares, but after the fourth year he began to see Nezumi everywhere. Walking down the street, he'd catch a glimpse of blue ducking around a corner, then find the alleyway completely deserted. The rains had always been a time of clarity and freedom from these visions, so this sudden change scared the hell out of him.

Karan burst into the room, shutting the windows as Shion continued to sob. She had never really gotten to know Nezumi, but from what she learned from Shion, he was a very special boy, special enough to drive him to tears. She comforted her son, cooing and coddling him like a baby, until he stopped sobbing. She gave him one of the precious anti-psychotic pills he'd been prescribed the previous summer. They were dwindling, and with the renovations happening on the city, medicine like this was in short supply.

Nezumi needed to get his ass home NOW.


	2. Chapter 2

Nezumi sat silently as the wind lashed his face with rain. He was perched just outside of Shion's window, waiting for them to open. He knew by now the boy's routine for days like this, open the windows and scream as loud as he could, like he did six years ago. He had done the same only two days ago. Then, though, he had called out his name, and for a moment he feared he had been discovered. However, Shion had simply run inside and screamed again. It was strange.

Today, though, Nezumi planned on making his grand reappearance. He had watched Shion for weeks, maybe six now, and he saw what bad condition he was in mentally. Shion, however, did not throw open his window to scream. He simply lay in bed with a glazed look in his eyes, staring out at the sky. Nezumi frowned, thinking something MUST be wrong. Shion NEVER missed a screaming session, especially not in a storm as perfect as this one. A bright flash of lightning caused the boy to shut his eyes and roll over in bed, an opportunity that Nezumi took to leap down and head off towards the window.

As he hoisted himself over the balcony (why Shion had chosen to live back in his old house, Nezumi would never figure out,) he tapped on the glass, waiting for a response from Shion. When none was given, he tapped again, harder this time. White hair twitched a bit, and Shion slowly rolled himself out of bed, trudging over. When he got close enough to see Nezumi's figure distorted by the rain, he froze in his place.

"Let. Me. In."

Nezumi mouthed the words, slowly and deliberately, and he knew that Shion could understand him. But the airhead just stood there, staring, horrified even. He sat on the ground, put his head between his knees, and grasped his head, letting out an ear-shattering scream. Nezumi pulled a knife from his pocket, and slid it between the panes of glass, unlatching them. He stepped in quickly and shut them again, so as to not mess up the room with the wind.

Shion scooted backwards, trying to get away, until he ran into a bookshelf, causing one of Nezumi's precious volumes to fall into his lap. Over time, he had collected every single one of his books from West Block. Shion threw the book, narrowly missing Nezumi's head.

"Knock that off! Shion, you know me! _Shit_," he added to himself, "_he must be more messed up than I thought_."

Nezumi walked calmly toward his cowering friend, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. Shion froze, a look of shock on his face.

_'Hallucinations cannot touch you. Hallucinations cannot physically affect your being in any way. Hallucinations are a figment of your imagination.'_

Shion recalled what his psychiatrist had told him. Which meant—Nezumi was real. _Real, in the flesh, with his hand on my shoulder!_ Shion leapt up and tackled Nezumi onto the bed, debilitating him with the pressure points he'd finally learned.

"Who the FUCK do you think you are, Nezumi?"

Grey eyes stared up at him, startled, as tears began welling up over red.

"You left me here alone for SIX YEARS, you jackass! Six years…" His head dropped and lodged itself in the crook of Nezumi's neck as the salty streams ran down his cheeks. When the crying subsided, Shion sat up, looking at Nezumi with puffy eyes before leaning in and kissing him, then laying down, exhausted emotionally. "Will you be here? When I wake up?"

"Of course I will, you fool."

He slid an arm around Shion's thin waist, hugging him into sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Shion awoke early, reaching around for the warm body he expected to be laying next to him. There was nothing but cold sheets. Eyes closed and sighs were released. _Another dream._

Still, he looked around, searching for signs that he had not been alone throughout the night. The only clue was a tray sitting on the table, which certainly hadn't been there when he had gone to sleep. His mother walked in the room to remove the tray, with a relieved look.

"You had nightmares again last night. I sat with you to make sure you were okay… Shion, we need to find more medication for you. We can't keep on like this. You're falling apart, sweetie."

Shion simply rolled over, disregarding her, and pulled the covers over his head. He imagined arms around him, holding him tight, and shut his eyes. Hamlet nipped on his nose, though, urging him to stand, so the white-haired boy complied grumpily. "Mom, we aren't going to find any medicine anymore. No matter if I helped saved the city, there are people who need it more than I do, and I refuse to take it from them."

He dressed himself sloppily, throwing on whatever clothing he grabbed, heading out onto his balcony once again. "Caravat, Hamlet, do you know where he went?" Shion sighed again, looking up at the now blue sky and taking in the scent of the fresh rain. The mice squealed, hopping up onto his shoulder. Perhaps they had some kind of homing device, and could track down Moonlit somehow. "Can you help?"

Karen worriedly began packing a bag for her son. She knew that if he was voicing these wishes out loud, he would certainly act upon them. _Clothes, food, money, phone. He would be okay. He would be okay. He might be okay. He most likely will not be okay._ But she can't stop him, he's taking the bag, kissing her on the cheek, brushing past her and out the door with the two small rodents on his shoulders. And he's gone within the hour. Without any clue where to go or what would happen when he got there.

Caravat immediately jumped onto the street, perking up his ears and scurrying along, pausing to wait, then continuing when his large companion had caught up. Up and down streets, into alleys and then back out of them they went, trying to pick up a signal from the third mouse. Finally, Hamlet was the one to catch a whiff. He was taken to a small pawn shop, where Moonlit was behind a glass counter, switched off indefinitely. The woman that ran the shop was a family friend, and gave him the robot without a question. He pushed the small button on the back of his furry friend, and was greeted with a message.

_'Nice try, but I told you not to look for me. I will come back soon… I've finally figured out what I needed to do.'_

The message was dated for just two weeks ago. Shion sat on the curb, stroking the poor neglected mouse as it reunited with its friends. He returned home, much to the relief of his mother, and showered, falling into a wonderfully dreamless sleep for a change.


End file.
